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Reactors: Buying Canadian is best

Thu., July 4, 2013

Re: Westinghouse pitch for Ontario nuclear contract heats up, June 29

Westinghouse pitch for Ontario nuclear contract heats up, June 29

Any commitment to a large capital project would have to look at the total net benefit to Ontario’s citizens. In this article, Westinghouse CEO Danny Roderick argues that selecting a Westinghouse AP1000 reactor instead of the domestic Enhanced CANDU reactor will somehow be better for Ontario companies that supply parts for the competing designs.

It should be noted that the current CANDU reactors, that supply almost 60 per cent of Ontario’s electricity, were designed in Ontario and nearly 100 per cent of the parts were made in Canada, the vast majority in Ontario.

In addition, when CANDU reactors have been built abroad, in China, Romania, Argentina and Korea, over 80 per cent of the parts for those reactors were made in Canada and shipped overseas for assembly. This has helped sustain an Ontario-based industry that does over $6 billion of business annually and employs over 60,000 people.

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The reactor vessel for a Westinghouse reactor will not be made in Canada and it is unlikely that any other major components or the fuel will be manufactured here either. No doubt we will make some of the minor components, but these would be akin to the breadcrumbs left over from a buffet. It’s hard to see how that would be better for Ontario industry than buying Canadian.

Michael Ivanco, President, Society of Professional Engineers and Associates, Toronto

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